Improvement in corsets



UnrTEn STATES PATENT OEEIcE..

THOMAS S. GILBERT, OF BIRMINGHAM, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND GEORGE F. BUSHNELL, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CORSETS.

Speeillcnlion Vorming part ol Letters Patent No. 93,528, dated August 10, 1869.

Toall whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS S. GILBERT, of Birmingham, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Corsets; and I do hereby declare the following ito be aQfnlMclear, and exact description of the same'freiereuee being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked `the; on:

Said drawings constitute part of tl'lis Cspecification, and represent, in Figure 1, a full view of my improved corset; in Figs. 2 and 3, two views of the tape, showing the flap which covers the end of the spring in its two different positions; in Fig; 4, a longitudinal section ofthe tape, in which the spring, as shown in blue, is represented as being removed; in Fig. 5, a (Toss-section of the said tape, showing its peculiar construction; and in Fig. 6, the man .ner of stitching the gores and tapes together.

- Similar letters of reference, wheuthey occur in the separate views, indicate like parts.

My invention relates to an improvement in the construction of what is generally known as a glove-tting corset 5 and consists; yin 'ormin g the said corset of a series ofgores lor Y pieces placed between tapes woven for lthe reception of the spring orr bone, the `said gores being made of the proper orm to giyliito, he corset the requisite shape, in order tha may t neatly the bust or il gure pf the person wearing the same.

The object oi' my invention is to av'oid the expense connected With making corsets of this kind which. are now in use, which are made from three entire pieces--the upper portion, the zone, and the lower portion-all of which pieces, in cutting, (in order to get the proper shape,) necessitate the waste ot' a large amount of cloth. This is accomplished by my improvement by making the upper and lower portions of the corset of small gored pieces, which may be cut without waste, placing these pieces between tapes woven in a peculiar Way for their reception, as well as for the reception of the spring or bone, and in this way making a corset as neat in form as any now used7 and producing it with much less expense. .i v

To enable others skilled ,in the art to xmalte and use my improvement, Iwill proceed to de-y scribe the construction 'of the same.

The tape A, which forms a very essential part ot' my corset, is iirst produced. This tape is woven in the forni as shown in Fig. 5. The edges are made double, as is also the center. The tape woven in this way is used by placing the edge of one of the'gores B between the double edge of the tape, as shown in Fig. 6, which is then stitched through both tapes and gore, thus giving the same finish upon both sides. In this way one of the gores is placed between the double edge upon each side of the tapes. The center is lei't double for the reception of the spring or bone.

I am aware that the same form of tape as shown in the drawing may be produced by placing two pieces of tape or cloth of the required width together, and holding them with two rows of stitching, thus forming a piece which is, in reality, the same as the tape above described. The woven tape, however, will be much better, cheaper, and will be that generally used.

The upper portion of my corset is formed by placing between a given number of these tapes (which number must be governed by the number of springs used) the required number of gores or pieces, the size and shape of these pieces being governed, respectively, by the number of tapes used, and by the size ot' the corset. The lower portion is formed in a similar manner by placing a series of gores, cut of the proper shape, between the said tapes. When the two parts are thus completed, the lower edge of the upper portion and the upper edge of the lower portion are stitched into a zone or baud, C, which extends across the entire width of the corset. This zone or band is also woven with a double edge and with shirrs or openings for the reception of the spring or bone'similar to those formed in the tapes, except that in the zone they run in the opposite direction, or across the said zone, to correspond with the openings in the tapes after the parts of the corset have been placed together. This is to allow the spring or bone to pass through the upper and lower portions, or from top to bottom of the corset.

Upon the upper and lower portions of the corset, and arranged to fold down upon each tape at the extremity of the spring or bone,

points or flaps D and D are placed. These iiaps are made from some thicl; material, and their object is to protect the ends of the springs or bones, and prevent them from wearing through the cloth. The iiaps D upon the up per portion are arranged not only to protect the end of the spring', but also to allow of its being taken out or removed from the tape in which it is held. This is done by providing the tape with a small opening at the upper end ofthe spring'. Through this opening', at'- ter raising` the ap D, the said spring may be inserted or removed, as shown in Fig. 4t. By this means all the springs iu the corset may be removed from the opening in the tapes Without ripping' or cutting the cloth when it is necessary to laundry the said eorset.

THOMAS S. (illll'lllli'l.

\Vitnesses:

turns ll. SANFORD, FRANK lnnsoo'm. 

